''Lampides boeticus'', the pea blue, or long-tailed blue, is a small butterfly that belongs to the lycaenids or gossamer-winged family.

Etymology

The Latin species name ''boeticus'' refers to Baetica, a province of the Roman Empire in the Iberian Peninsula . Its common name refers to the long streamers on its hind wings, the male's bright iridescent blue colour, and peas, which is the typical host plant of the butterfly.

Distribution

This species can be found in Europe, Africa,

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and Southeast Asia, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

.Funet
/ref> Also found in the Hawaiian islands.

Habitat

This species inhabits the edge of forests, mountain meadows and hot flowery places at an elevation up to above sea level. Lepidoptera Caucasi
/ref>Simon Coombe

Description

The wingspan is 24–32 mm for males and 24–34 mm for females. In these small butterflies (although unusually large for their family) the males have a mainly blue violet upper face of the wings with the brown edges, while the females have only a small amount of blue colour in the centre of the wings ( sexual dimorphism).New Zealand Butterflies
/ref> Both sexes have a thin, long tail in the hindwings and two black spots in the anal angle. The underface of the wings is ocher and adorned with white markings and with a larger white submarginal streak.Euro Butterflies by Matt Rowlings
/ref> The underface of each hindwing shows a pair of small black eye-spots beside each tail, with an orange marginal spots at the anal angle. This species is rather similar and it can be confused with ''

Leptotes pirithous ''Leptotes pirithous'', the Lang's short-tailed blue or common zebra blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. Description ''Leptotes pirithous'' is a small butterfly with a wingspan of 21–29 mm in males and 24–30 mm in female ...

and ''

Cacyreus marshalli The geranium bronze or ''brun des pélargoniums'' in French (''Cacyreus marshalli''), is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The geranium bronze butterfly is native to South Africa. The butterfly was first introduced to Europe in the late ...

'' although the pea-blue is significantly larger than both species. Lycaenidae - Lampides boeticus (female)

Ecology

This species may have three generations a year. Adults fly from February to early November and are strong migrants. Eggs are white with a greenish tinge and have a disc-shaped form. They can reach a diameter of 0.5 mm. They are laid singly on the flower buds of the host plants. Old caterpillars are green or reddish-brown, with dark dorsal stripe. They reach a length of 14-15 mm. Pupae reach a length of 9-10 mm. They are light grayish-brown with medium-sized dark spots and dark dorsal stripe. The larvae feed on flowers, seeds and pods of many

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

species, including ''

Medicago ''Medicago'' is a genus of flowering plants, commonly known as medick or burclover, in the legume family (Fabaceae). It contains at least 87 species and is distributed mainly around the Mediterranean basin. The best-known member of the genus is ...

'', '' Crotalaria'', '' Polygala'', '' Sutherlandia'', '' Dolichos'', '' Cytisus'', '' Spartium'' and '' Lathyrus'' species. It has also been recorded on '' Crotolaria pallida''. In Australia, the larvae are occasionally attended by ants in the genera '' Froggattella'', '' Iridomyrmex'' or '' Camponotus''.

Bibliography

* * * * * * *Tom Tolman et Richard Lewington, Guide des papillons d'Europe et d'Afrique du Nord, Delachaux et Niestlé, 1997 ()

References

External links

* Paolo Mazzei, Daniel Morel, Raniero Panfil
Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa

Lepiforum.de
{{Taxonbar, from=Q929463 boeticus Butterflies of Africa Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Europe Butterflies of Oceania Butterflies of Indochina Butterflies of Australia Butterflies of Indonesia Butterflies of Malaysia Butterflies of Singapore Lepidoptera of New Guinea Lepidoptera of the Philippines Insects of Hawaii Insects of Cape Verde Agricultural pest insects Butterflies described in 1767 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Articles containing video clips